Haec dicit Dominus, by William Byrd (1591) QuireCleveland, 2008–18 2024-10-17 | Haec dicit Dominus, by William Byrd (1591)
Bring us, O Lord, by William Harris, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin QuireCleveland, 2008–18 2019-01-09 | "Bring us, O Lord," by Sir William Henry Harris, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin, for Quire's 10th Anniversary Finale Concert on May 26, 2018, at St. John's Cathedral, Cleveland, Ohio.Composed in 1959, this beautiful double-choir work sets a prayer by John Donne, early 17th-century poet and Dean of St. Paul's Cathedral in London.Bring us, O Lord God, at our last awakening, into the house and gate of heaven, to enter into that gate and dwell in that house, where there shall be no darkness nor dazzling, but one equal light; no noise nor silence, but one equal music; no fears nor hopes, but one equal possession; no ends nor beginnings, but one equal eternity; in the habitations of thy glory and dominion, world without end. Amen.
Salve Regina à trois chœurs, by Marc-Antoine Charpentier QuireCleveland, 2008–18 2018-06-03 | Quire Cleveland, directed by Ross W. Duffin in performance at Plymouth Church in Shaker Heights, OH, on April 29, 2018. The program was part of a collaboration between Quire Cleveland and Les Délices. The solo choir was Philippe Gagné, Brian MacGilvray, and Jeffrey Strauss.
Gloria Patri from Venite Exultemus, by Jean-Joseph Cassanéa de Mondonville QuireCleveland, 2008–18 2018-06-03 | Quire Cleveland and Les Délices join forces under Scott Metcalfe in this performance at Plymouth Church in Shaker Heights, OH, on April 29, 2018. The soprano soloists are Sarah Coffman and Elena Mullins.
Tunc repletum est from In Convertendo, by Jean-Philippe Rameau QuireCleveland, 2008–18 2018-06-03 | Quire Cleveland and Les Délices join forces under Scott Metcalfe in this performance at Plymouth Church in Shaker Heights, OH, on April 29, 2018.
Laudate nomen dei from In Convertendo, by Jean-Philippe Rameau QuireCleveland, 2008–18 2018-06-03 | Quire Cleveland and Les Délices join forces under Scott Metcalfe in this performance at Plymouth Church in Shaker Heights, OH, on April 29, 2018. The soprano soloist is Sarah Coffman.
Euntes ibant from In Convertendo, by Jean-Philippe Rameau QuireCleveland, 2008–18 2018-06-03 | Quire Cleveland and Les Délices join forces under Scott Metcalfe in this performance at Plymouth Church in Shaker Heights, OH, on April 29, 2018.
Lulla, Lullaby, by William Byrd, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin QuireCleveland, 2008–18 2017-12-21 | William Byrd’s Lullaby is from his Psalmes, Sonets, & songs of sadnes and pietie of 1588. It is a song of comfort from Mary to the infant Jesus in the context of the Massacre of the Holy Innocents, where King Herod tried to have all the newborns killed in an attempt to prevent the survival of the rumored child-king. The gentle lullaby section, heard first and last, contrasts with the darker, mournful section lamenting the slaughter.
Ma’oz Tzur Yeshu’ati, by Johann Walter (arr. Ross W. Duffin), sung by Quire Cleveland QuireCleveland, 2008–18 2017-12-21 | Ma’oz Tzur Yeshu’ati is a Hebrew version of the popular Hanukkah song “Rock of Ages, let our song praise thy saving power.” I discovered that the tune seems to have its origins in the sixteenth century hymn Nun frewt euch ließen Christen gmeyn, first published in Luther’s hymnal of 1524. Luther’s colleague Johann Walter made multiple settings of this hymn and, for use with the Hebrew words, I chose one that was originally published in his Geystliches Gesangk Büchleyn of 1551. Something like this must have happened for the song to have adapted this melody, so this is a version of how it could have sounded in the sixteenth century.
Mi yemalel, by Giovanni Bassano (arr. Ross W. Duffin), sung by Quire Cleveland QuireCleveland, 2008–18 2017-12-21 | Mi yemalel was published as Confitemini Domino, a motet with Latin text in Bassano’s Concerti Ecclesiastici (Venice, 1599), but two things led me to make this arrangement. The first is that although Bassano was a cornetto player at the Cathedral of San Marco in Venice, he was almost certainly Jewish. He was cousin to the Bassanos in the royal wind band in England, and they are known to have been Jewish. The second thing is that the text is a setting of Psalm 106, which extols the bravery of the Maccabees and is sung frequently at Hanukkah. It occurred to me that Bassano may have chosen to set this psalm because of its connection to the Festival of Lights, and that, as a Jew, he may have had the Hebrew text in mind when he first sat down to write it.
Out from lands of Orient, Anon. 13th-century French, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin QuireCleveland, 2008–18 2017-12-21 | Since around the middle of the nineteenth century, the medieval carol, Orientis partibus, has been popularly known as the “Song of the Ass.” It tells the story of the donkey on which Mary rode into Bethlehem, and was apparently sung as part of the Epiphany celebrations at Beauvais, France, from the Middle Ages to at least the seventeenth century. A manuscript with the musical setting as used in Beauvais survives in the British Library (MS Egerton 2615) and seems to have been copied in the thirteenth century. Six stanzas survive in that manuscript, each with slight musical variants (though these are typically ignored in modern editions and performances), and another four stanzas of text in other manuscripts of the period. Our performance presents the music to the entire song as it appears in the original manuscript, but we are using the rhyming English translation by Henry Copley Greene. Greene wrote an article about the piece in 1931 and included such a delightful translation that I decided to use it as an alternative to the original Latin. The Latin version can be found elsewhere on our site.
Wachet auf, settings by Michael Prætorius & J.S. Bach, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin QuireCleveland, 2008–18 2017-12-21 | Michael Prætorius must have loved Christmas music, because he published well over a hundred settings, scattered over several volumes of choral repertoire. We sing the first two stanzas of Wachet auf, as set by Prætorius in 1607, and the final stanza in an exquisite chorale setting by Johann Sebastian Bach from his cantata of the same name (No. 140), written in Leipzig in November 1731.
O virgo splendens, Anonymous 14th-century Spanish, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin QuireCleveland, 2008–18 2017-11-07 | O virgo splendens, Anonymous 14th-century Spanish (Llibre Vermell), sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin, at St. John’s Cathedral, Cleveland, on Nov. 7, 2015.O virgo splendens is described as a “caça” in its unique source, the fourteenth-century Spanish manuscript known as the Llibre Vermell (the Red Book). The word “caça” means “hunt” or “chase,” and we find the same word used in fourteenth-century France (“chace”) and Italy (“caccia”) to describe canonic pieces. One voice part begins and is followed in turn by two others, as if the following voices were hunting the first along the same trail. The melody of O virgo splendens is chant-like in that it is not metrical, but each phrase is exactly the same length, so the three voices come together every few seconds before proceeding to the next phrase.
Munda Maria, Anonymous 13th-century English, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin QuireCleveland, 2008–18 2017-11-07 | Munda Maria, Anonymous 13th-century English (Worcester Fragments), sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin, at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Akron OH, on Oct. 29, 2017.Munda Maria, a three-voice round, is strongly rhythmic – in fact, quite virtuosic in its syncopated opening, especially considering that composers were just figuring out how to notate rhythm. It is a strophic round, meaning each statement of the melody has a new verse of the text, and we sing all five of them. The solo singers at the beginning are Malina Rauschenfels and Brian MacGilvray.
Sumer is icumen in / Perspice Christicola, Anonymous 13th-century English, sung by Quire Cleveland QuireCleveland, 2008–18 2017-11-07 | Sumer is icumen in / Perspice Christicola, Anonymous 13th-century English, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin, at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Akron OH, on Oct. 29, 2017.Sumer is icumen in is perhaps the most famous song from the Middle Ages. Its unique manuscript source describes the piece as a “rota,” which is Latin for “wheel,” and that imagery suits the concept of a round very well. Four voices follow each other on the same music, but a further wrinkle is that, beneath the voices of the round are two other voice parts, making their own short canon with each other. The manuscript refers to those as the “Pes” – literally the “foot,” and therefore serving the same sort of function as the repeating “ground bass” of later centuries. Sumer is icumen in has a sacred text as well, Perspice Christicola, written underneath the familiar English one. We sing both Latin and English lyrics here, and follow the reconstruction of the original melody from Ross Duffin’s 1988 article in the journal “Speculum.”
Le ray au soleyl, Johannes Ciconia, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin QuireCleveland, 2008–18 2017-11-07 | Le ray au soleyl, Johannes Ciconia, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin, at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Akron OH, on Oct. 29, 2017.Johannes Ciconia is generally regarded as the first composer of Franco-Flemish origin to make his way to Italy in the late Middle Ages. He paved the way for a host of other Northern singers and composers attracted to the brilliant courts of Italy during the course of the Renaissance, including DuFay, Josquin, Willaert, Rore, and Lassus, to name but a few. Ciconia’s Le ray au soleyl is a mensuration canon, meaning a canon that depends on the fact that notes had different durations in different meters, just as in modern notation a whole rest can have different values depending on the meter. The first voice you will hear is joined by another, one octave lower and moving at one-third of the speed, then by a third voice moving in the same range as the first, but with four notes for every three of the first. It is a fascinating piece and a remarkable conception that was brought to its zenith by Ockeghem, with his Missa Prolationum.
Missa Prolationum: Agnus I & III, Johannes Ockeghem, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin QuireCleveland, 2008–18 2017-11-07 | Missa Prolationum: Agnus dei I & III, Johannes Ockeghem, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin, at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Akron OH, on Oct. 29, 2017.The Agnus dei movement from Johannes Ockeghem’s Missa Prolationum is the most complex canon imaginable, since the soprano and alto are in canon with each other at different pitch levels and different speeds. At the same time, the tenor and bass are also in canon, again at different pitch levels, and in meters that are not only different from each other, but different from those of the upper voices as well! The truly amazing thing about Ockeghem’s achievement in this Agnus and, in fact, throughout this mass, is that the listener is hardly aware of the canon – never distracted by the technical achievement of what must rank with Bach’s Musical Offering and Art of Fugue as the most extraordinary canonic masterpieces ever composed.
Quae est ista by Antoine de Févin, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin QuireCleveland, 2008–18 2017-11-07 | Quae est ista by Antoine de Févin, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin, at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Akron OH, on Oct. 29, 2017.Antoine Févin’s Quae est ista uses a melody, introduced first in the top part, followed after a short interval by itself in the alto, then tenor, and then bass voice, each entry being a fifth lower than the last. Because of the close time interval and the starting pitches a fifth apart, this creates an unusual modal ambiguity as each of the four parts tries to make the melody fit into its scale while harmonizing with the other voices.
Ave sanctissima, by Philippe Verdelot, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin QuireCleveland, 2008–18 2017-11-07 | Ave sanctissima, by Philippe Verdelot, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin, at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Akron OH, on Oct. 29, 2017.Ave virgo sanctissima exists in various sources with conflicting attributions, but it seems most likely to have been by Philippe Verdelot. In this case, three voice parts begin simultaneously, but each is followed by canonic part singing a fourth higher. The separation at first is just one measure, but after a cadence and a pause, the canon starts again at a distance four measures. This seems simply to alternate a trio with its answer four measures later, but eventually the leading voices continue instead of resting and join together with their following counterparts. Thus, from three notated voices, a texture of six is created. Remarkably, the fact that it is entirely canonic is not the predominant impression for listeners.
Browning madame, by Thomas Ravenscroft, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin QuireCleveland, 2008–18 2017-11-07 | Browning madame, by Thomas Ravenscroft, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin, at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Akron OH, on Oct. 29, 2017.Thomas Ravenscroft was a boy actor at St Paul’s Cathedral who grew up to be a composer, arranger, music theorist, and publisher. As the first person to publish a version of “Three blind mice,” he is especially important to people today who like to sing rounds. There is nothing fancy about the canonic technique here, however. The “Browning” tune is also known as “The leaves be green.” The soloists at the beginning are John McElliott and Brian MacGilvray.
Hey ho, to the greenwood, by Thomas Ravenscroft, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin QuireCleveland, 2008–18 2017-11-07 | Hey ho, to the greenwood, by Thomas Ravenscroft, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin, at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Akron OH, on Oct. 29, 2017.Thomas Ravenscroft was a boy actor at St Paul’s Cathedral who grew up to be a composer, arranger, music theorist, and publisher. As the first person to publish a version of “Three blind mice,” he is especially important to people today who like to sing rounds. There is nothing fancy about the canonic technique in this round, however, although we divide the parts to suit high and low voices answering one another.
Sing we now merrily, by Thomas Ravenscroft, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin QuireCleveland, 2008–18 2017-11-07 | Sing we now merrily, by Thomas Ravenscroft, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin, at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Akron OH, on Oct. 29, 2017.Thomas Ravenscroft was a boy actor at St Paul’s Cathedral who grew up to be a composer, arranger, music theorist, and publisher. As the first person to publish a version of “Three blind mice,” he is especially important to people today who like to sing rounds. There is nothing fancy about the canonic technique here, however, although this round is for no fewer than ten separate voice parts!
Quomodo cantabimus, by William Byrd, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin QuireCleveland, 2008–18 2017-11-07 | Quomodo cantabimus, by William Byrd, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin, at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Akron OH, on Oct. 29, 2017.Quire has sung Byrd since our début concert in 2008, and he is the sole composer on our 2016 recording, England’s Phœnix, so he holds a special place in our hearts. Quomodo cantabimus was composed in answer to a canonic piece by Philippe de Monte. Its two alto voices are both derived from one of the bass parts, except an octave higher, and one of them in inversion: where the bass part ascends, the inverted part descends. At the same time, five other voice parts swirl around in independent counterpoint, creating a lush musical texture and virtually obliterating any chance a listener might have of hearing the embedded canon!
With humble voice, by Robert Ramsey, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin QuireCleveland, 2008–18 2017-11-07 | With humble voice, by Robert Ramsey, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin, at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Akron OH, on Oct. 29, 2017.Robert Ramsey is a composer who worked at Trinity College, Cambridge. His beautiful and chromatic “With humble voice” occurs uniquely in a manuscript fragment preserved in the Special Collections Library at Case Western Reserve University. The four bass singers are Brian MacGilvray, Michael McKay, Ian Crane, and Nathan Longnecker.
Orlando was his name, by Orlando Gibbons, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin QuireCleveland, 2008–18 2017-11-07 | Orlando was his name, by Orlando Gibbons, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin, at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Akron OH, on Oct. 29, 2017.“Orlando was his name,” was composed by Orlando Gibbons to commemorate the return of Prince Charles from Spain in November, 1623. Gibbons was organist and singer in the Chapel Royal, as well as a musican in the prince’s household, so he had the kind of personal access implied by the lyrics. The lyrics also contain unique confirmation that, although rounds may be notated variously in high or low clefs, they were often intended to be sung by high and low voices together, something that Quire therefore does for most performances of such works.
She weepeth sore, by William Lawes, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin QuireCleveland, 2008–18 2017-11-07 | She weepeth sore, by William Lawes, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin, at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Akron OH, on Oct. 29, 2017.“She weepeth sore” is based on texts from the Lamentations of Jeremiah, but it is thought that Lawes may have been inspired by the citation of this particular passage during an outbreak of the plague in London in 1626. Highly chromatic like Ramsey’s “With humble voice” (also in this playlist), “She weepeth sore” was published by composer Henry Lawes during the English Civil War, after his brother William’s death in that conflict. The solo singers at the beginning at Malina Rauschenfels and Nathan Longnecker.
Non nobis Domine, Anonymous 17th-century English, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin QuireCleveland, 2008–18 2017-11-07 | Non nobis Domine, Anonymous 17th-century English, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin, at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Akron OH, on Oct. 29, 2017.The three-voice canon Non nobis Domine was attributed in the eighteenth century to William Byrd, but the musicologist Philip Brett showed that to be erroneous. The music occurs without text in a manuscript once owned by the composer John Bull, but the music and words together are not found until John Hilton’s 1652 collection of rounds and canons, Catch that catch can.
Canon a 4 voc. perpetuus, by Johann Sebastian Bach, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin QuireCleveland, 2008–18 2017-11-07 | Canon a 4 voc. perpetuus, by Johann Sebastian Bach, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin, at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Akron OH, on Oct. 29, 2017.This perpetual canon for four voices by J. S. Bach is found in a manuscript in Bach’s own handwriting, signed at Weimar on August 2, 1713. The bass begins, followed in turn by the successively higher voices, each a fifth above the previous one. The piece achieved fame in modern times as a favorite of the Swingle Singers, whom we emulate for the beginning of our arrangement. After that, I have added a new lyric in the spirit of the piece. The basses sing the melody once through each time, both without and with text, before the canon begins.
The Singing Club, by Thomas Augustine Arne, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin QuireCleveland, 2008–18 2017-11-07 | The Singing Club, by Thomas Augustine Arne, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin, at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Akron OH, on Oct. 29, 2017.“The Singing Club” by Thomas Augustine Arne is an extended round that humorously tells the story of a singing lesson. We hear scales, complaints about the quality of the singing, tentative testing of vowel quality, euphoric appreciation (perhaps feigned), and finally, asides about the singer’s lack of ability.
Alleluia (K. 553), by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin QuireCleveland, 2008–18 2017-11-07 | Alleluia (K. 553), by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin, at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Akron OH, on Oct. 29, 2017.Next is a canonic piece by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: a four-voice Alleluia for high voices, signed by Mozart in Vienna on September 2, 1788. The solo singers at the beginning are Angela Mitchell and Bryan Munch.
Benedictus from the Missa Canonica, by Johannes Brahms, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin QuireCleveland, 2008–18 2017-11-07 | Benedictus from the Missa Canonica, by Johannes Brahms, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin, at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Akron OH, on Oct. 29, 2017.This lovely Benedictus by Johannes Brahms, a canon for high voices (SSAT), is known from a copy in Brahms’ own handwriting, and he used it as the basis for another choral work, Warum ist das Licht gegeben? but no one realized that it was part of a complete canonic mass by the composer until 1978, when the mass turned up in Cape Cod, MA, not copied by Brahms but certainly composed by him. The Benedictus is the movement that Brahms wrote out separately and preserved for himself, however, so it seems to have had special meaning for him.
Mir ist so wunderbar (from Fidelio), by Ludwig van Beethoven, sung a cappella by Quire Cleveland QuireCleveland, 2008–18 2017-11-07 | Mir ist so wunderbar (from Fidelio), by Ludwig van Beethoven, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin, at St. John’s Cathedral, Cleveland, on Nov. 7, 2015.Canonic techniques fell out of favor among composers in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, but there is a stunning example from opera: the charming Mir ist so wunderbar from Ludwig van Beethoven’s 1805 opera, Fidelio. It occurs as a quartet at the end of Act I, where Marzelline, Leonore, Rocco, and Jaquino each, in turn, take up the same melody, though with lyrics showing their respective reaction to the confusing love quandary. Jaquino loves Marzelline, Rocco’s daughter, but Marzelline has fallen for Leonore who is disguised as a man (Fidelio). Quire sings the canon with soprano, alto, bass, and tenor, representing Marzelline, Leonore, Rocco, and Jaquino.
Jubilate Deo by Henry Purcell, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin QuireCleveland, 2008–18 2017-10-18 | Jubilate Deo by Henry Purcell, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin, at St. John’s Cathedral, Cleveland OH, October 6, 2017. “O be joyful in the Lord,” also known as the Jubilate Deo, is a psalm that, along with the Te Deum, was sung daily at Morning Prayer. Purcell composed a much grander setting of this text, with instruments; the one we are singing is on a smaller scale, with two verses for groups of soloists, but otherwise full. It is an optimistic work somehow, in spite of the highly chromatic imitative motive at the text, “It is he that hath made us.” There is also a canon at the 4-voice verse, with the soprano following the tenor in inversion up a 5th, and the alto a 12th above the bass, also in inversion. It is a lovely moment, in spite of its complicated compositional technique. The piece concludes with a resounding Gloria Patri: Glory be to the Father.
“I will sing unto the Lord” by Henry Purcell, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin QuireCleveland, 2008–18 2017-10-13 | “I will sing unto the Lord” by Henry Purcell, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin, at St. John’s Cathedral, Cleveland OH, October 6, 2017.“I will sing unto the Lord” is a verse anthem in which blocks of choral sound alternate with gentler soli sections amid varying meters. The “Cantate Domino” text is well known as the beginning of Psalms 96, 98 and 149, but here Purcell finds a related and essential psalmodic lyric at the end of Psalm 104.
Jehova quam multi sunt hostes mei by Henry Purcell, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin QuireCleveland, 2008–18 2017-10-13 | Jehova quam multi sunt hostes mei by Henry Purcell, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin, at St. John’s Cathedral, Cleveland OH, October 6, 2017. Jehova quam multi is at first glance a motet—basically an anthem in Latin. But Purcell chose an extremely unusual source for his setting of Psalm 3: the psalter from the protestant humanistic Latin bible, translated by Immanuel Tremellius and first published in England in 1580. Tremellius was a Ferrarese Jewish convert to Calvinism, who became Professor of Hebrew and Greek at Cambridge during the reign of Edward VI. Not many musical settings of Tremellius psalms survive, so it’s interesting to find Purcell setting this one a hundred years after the original publication. The setting is striking for its use of two extended solos for tenor and bass, rather than the more typical groups of solo singers. The soloists are Corey Shotwell, tenor, and Daniel Fridley, bass.
“Blow up the trumpet” by Henry Purcell, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin QuireCleveland, 2008–18 2017-10-13 | “Blow up the trumpet” by Henry Purcell, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin, at St. John’s Cathedral, Cleveland OH, October 6, 2017. Groups of solo singers abound in the anthem “Blow up the trumpet,” setting text from Joel, chapter 2. In fact, some parts of the piece sound like sections of dialogue between groups of singers. It is curious to find Purcell choosing this text about the people being ruled by heathen. It may have been written by the 18-year-old composer in 1677, when the French navy was active and successful, causing alarm in England.
Beati omnes by Henry Purcell, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin QuireCleveland, 2008–18 2017-10-13 | Beati omnes by Henry Purcell, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin, at St. John’s Cathedral, Cleveland OH, October 6, 2017. The Latin-texted Beati omnes is an early psalm setting written in verse anthem style with extended solos for bass and soprano. The soloists are Brian MacGilvray, bass, and Elena Mullins, soprano. Vulgate Psalm 127, from which the text is taken, is known especially as the proper psalm for weddings. But since a Latin liturgy was not sanctioned in the English church at the period, the piece is thought to have been written for domestic devotion. However, it has been dated as early as 1677, which is the year the Princess Mary married Prince William of Orange, and since they were married in the small chapel at St. James’s Palace instead of in a larger public ceremony, they might have sneaked a Latin motet into the ceremony. The extended “Alleluia” ending is spectacular.
“Remember not, O Lord” by Henry Purcell, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin QuireCleveland, 2008–18 2017-10-13 | “Remember not, O Lord” by Henry Purcell, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin, at St. John’s Cathedral, Cleveland OH, October 6, 2017. “Remember not, Lord, our offenses” is one of Purcell’s few full anthems. Scored for five voices, it is a setting of a text from the “Order for the Visitation of the Sick” from the Book of Common Prayer.
Man that is born from Purcells Funeral Sentences; Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin QuireCleveland, 2008–18 2017-10-13 | Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin, at St. John’s Cathedral, Cleveland OH, October 6, 2017. “Man that is born of woman” is the first of three parts to Purcell’s Funeral Sentences, a verse anthem for a group of soloists whose final section is echoed by the full choir. The soloists here are Sarah Coffman, soprano, Beverly Simmons, alto, Bryan Munch, tenor, and Daniel Singer, bass. The text includes two verses from the Book of Job (14.1–2), but the collected lines are from the Anglican burial service in the Book of Common Prayer. Written when Purcell was 20 years old or less, it’s an extraordinary work—difficult, emotional, and beautiful.
In the midst of life from Purcells Funeral Sentences; Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin QuireCleveland, 2008–18 2017-10-13 | “In the midst of life,” Part 2 of the Funeral Sentences by Henry Purcell, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin, at St. John’s Cathedral, Cleveland OH, October 6, 2017. “In the midst of life” is the second of three parts to Purcell’s Funeral Sentences, a verse anthem for a group of soloists whose final section is echoed by the full choir. The soloists here are Elena Mullins, soprano, Joseph Schlesinger, alto, Nathan Dougherty, tenor, and Nathan Longnecker, bass. The text is from the Anglican burial service in the Book of Common Prayer. Here, Purcell pits a kind of calm resignation against the anguish evident in the rising chromatic passage at “the bitter pains of eternal death.” Written when Purcell was 20 years old or less, it’s an extraordinary work—difficult, emotional, and beautiful.
“Thou knowest Lord,” from Purcells Funeral Sentences, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin QuireCleveland, 2008–18 2017-10-13 | “Thou knowest Lord,” Part 3 of the Funeral Sentences by Henry Purcell, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin, at St. John’s Cathedral, Cleveland OH, October 6, 2017. “Thou knowest Lord” is the third of three parts to Purcell’s Funeral Sentences, a verse anthem for a group of soloists whose final section is echoed by the full choir. The soloists here are Megan Long, soprano, John McElliott, alto, Corey Shotwell, tenor, and Daniel Fridley, bass. The text is from the Anglican burial service in the Book of Common Prayer. Especially notable here is the effective and pathos-laden descent at the words “to fall from thee,” at the end. Written when Purcell was 20 years old or less, it’s an extraordinary work—difficult, emotional, and beautiful.
“O God, thou has cast us out” by Henry Purcell, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin QuireCleveland, 2008–18 2017-10-13 | “O God, thou has cast us out” by Henry Purcell, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin, at St. John’s Cathedral, Cleveland OH, October 6, 2017. “O God, thou has cast us out” is also a comparatively early work. It is mostly “full” (for full chorus) in six voice parts, but features a verse section for soloists in the middle. One curious aspect is Purcell’s thoughtful selection of verses from Psalm 60, setting the first two, but then skipping to the 11th and 12th for the conclusion. The setting was written at an uncertain time for the nation, with the death of Charles II and the accession of his brother, James II. Some of that uncertainty, with an expression of hope for better times, seems to be reflected in this anthem.
“Lord, how long wilt thou be angry” by Henry Purcell, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin QuireCleveland, 2008–18 2017-10-13 | “Lord, how long wilt thou be angry” by Henry Purcell, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin, at St. John’s Cathedral, Cleveland OH, October 6, 2017.
Miserere mei by Henry Purcell, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin QuireCleveland, 2008–18 2017-10-13 | Miserere mei by Henry Purcell, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin, at St. John’s Cathedral, Cleveland OH, October 6, 2017. Miserere mei is a domestic devotional work in Latin. The opening text occurs no fewer than eighteen times in the Book of Psalms, perhaps most famously at the opening of Psalm 51. This setting, however, is a brief prayer. Its 4-voice texture almost completely obscures the fact that it really consists of only two written voice parts, each one in canon an octave below—the tenor following the soprano and the bass the alto. The exquisite dissonances of this work are over too soon—so much so, that we decided to sing it twice.
“Thou knowest Lord” by Henry Purcell, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin QuireCleveland, 2008–18 2017-10-13 | “Thou knowest Lord” by Henry Purcell, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin, at St. John’s Cathedral, Cleveland OH, October 6, 2017. “Thou knowest Lord” is a setting of the same text that concludes the Funeral Sentences elsewhere on our site. The two are musically so different that it seemed worth hearing this contrasting setting—so simple, and yet so beautiful. It was first performed on March 5, 1695, for the funeral of Queen Mary, and repeated at Purcell’s own funeral in November that year, both in Westminster Abbey.
“O Lord God of hosts” by Henry Purcell, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin QuireCleveland, 2008–18 2017-10-13 | “O Lord God of hosts” by Henry Purcell, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin, at St. John’s Cathedral, Cleveland OH, October 6, 2017. “O Lord God of hosts” is best described as a full anthem with verse elements: the 8-voice choral texture is interrupted by sections for soli. At the text, “Turn us again,” Purcell changes gears dramatically with a shift to the minor mode, then interrupts the text with a skip to a much later verse of the psalm for the conclusion—a grand, optimistic chorus, again in the major mode.
“Hear my prayer” by Henry Purcell, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin QuireCleveland, 2008–18 2017-10-13 | “Hear my prayer” by Henry Purcell, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin, at St. John’s Cathedral, Cleveland OH, October 6, 2017. “Hear my prayer” has long been one of the most beloved works among singers of this repertory. Apparently written for a royal funeral—that of Charles II in 1685—its emotionally charged lines weave through chromatic ambivalence and harmonic disagreement to a stunning and glorious climax. Every singer should get to perform this choral masterpiece at least once. Quire was fortunate to sing “Hear my prayer” under guest conductor, Timothy Brown of Clare College, Cambridge, England, and that performance may be found elsewhere on this site.
“Save me, O God” by Henry Purcell, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin QuireCleveland, 2008–18 2017-10-13 | “Save me, O God” by Henry Purcell, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin, at St. John’s Cathedral, Cleveland OH, October 6, 2017. “Save me, O God” is a psalm setting from the late 1670s, when Purcell was still in his teens. It uses a trio of low voices and then a trio of high voices, introduced, punctuated, and concluded by the full choir. The opening imitative section is answered by an actual canon for five voices at the end. One curious feature — reminiscent of J. S. Bach’s omission of some of the more inflammatory texts from the St. John Passion — is that Purcell uses the entire Psalm 54, except verse 5, which is perhaps the most belligerent and vengeful. The composer may have wanted to avoid too much distraction from the message of supplication and hope for redemption.
“I was glad” by Henry Purcell, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin QuireCleveland, 2008–18 2017-10-13 | “I was glad” by Henry Purcell, sung by Quire Cleveland, dir. Ross W. Duffin, at St. John’s Cathedral, Cleveland OH, October 6, 2017. “I was glad” is most often described as a coronation anthem for James II, in 1685, but in fact, it is also a setting of verses from Psalm 122. Surviving only in a late-18th-century manuscript and there ascribed to Purcell’s elder colleague, John Blow, it is the only one of Purcell’s sacred works to have been excluded from the 1963 catalogue of his works. In 1977, however, musicologist Bruce Wood noticed that the description of the music for the 1685 coronation, printed two years after the event, mentioned a setting of Psalm 122, verses 1, and 4–7 with the Gloria patri (exactly as in this work), and described as a “full Anthem” “Compos’d by Mr Hen. Purcel, a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal.” That was sung by the Westminster Abbey choir as the introit at the coronation, and can be none other than this glorious work.
Come all ye baseball fans, by Henry Purcell; lyrics by Ross W. Duffin QuireCleveland, 2008–18 2017-10-10 | Quire Cleveland celebrates the success of the Cleveland Indians baseball team in 2017, with a parody of Henry Purcell's "Come ye sons of Art." This was an encore for our performance of anthems by Purcell. The soloists are Elena Mullins, soprano, and John McElliott, countertenor, with Peter Bennett, organ. Here are the lyrics:Lindor, Santana / Encarnacion, Kipnis Gomes, Ramirez, / Bruce, FranconaChisenhall, AlomarCleveland’s heroes you’ll be crown’d.You make Lake Erie’s shores resoundKluber, Carrasco / Bauer, Tomlin Shaw and Allen / Dan Otero,Clevinger, Salazar,Miller: Masters of the mound.You make Lake Erie’s shores resound.Your exciting baseball,exciting baseball play.Oh, if you could win it all:playoffs, American League, yes, win it all —World Series — we’d be standing tall.We’d celebrate,we’d celebrate the glories of the daythe glories, the glories of the day!Come all ye baseball fansWahoo! Hooray!To Progressive Field we’ll gosee the Indians play.Lift all your voicestheir labors repayLet’s celebrateLet’s celebrate their triumphant day.Buy me some peanuts,forever we’ll stay.Let’s celebrateLet’s celebrate their triumphant day.
Richard Davys St. Matthew Passion, sung in William Tyndales English translation QuireCleveland, 2008–18 2017-04-14 | The St. Matthew Passion, by Richard Davy (ca.1465-1538) from the Eton Choirbook, sung by Quire Cleveland, directed by Ross W. Duffin, and featuring Owen McIntosh as the Evangelist and the Jeffrey Strauss as Jesus, at Historic St. Peter Church, Cleveland, OH, on April 9, 2017. Davy's setting of the Passion is the earliest by a known composer. But it survives incomplete in its unique source: of the 42 short polyphonic movements, the first 11 are missing entirely, and the next 12 survive with only alto and bass parts. The missing and imperfect movements have been reconstructed by Ross W. Duffin. The music for the Evangelist and Jesus are sung using the appropriate Sarum recitation tone for the passion, while Davy's polyphony sets the words of everyone else in the story, including Peter, Judas, Pilate, Pilate's wife, the Pharisees, the rabble, etc.One unusual feature of our performance is the language of the text. Davy's original work is in Latin, but he was at Magdalen College, Oxford, just a few years before William Tyndale began translating the New Testament from Greek into English while a student there. That connection between composer and translator suggested that the original Latin might justifiably be replaced by Tyndale's vivid translation, a product of the same artistic milieu as Davy's music.The Passion was immediately followed in our performance by Sheryngam's "Ah, Gentle Jesu."
